Heroes of Alagaesia: The Dragon Battles
by Black Lance
Summary: The Heroes have defeated their enemy. Or have they? The battlefield has shifted. A secret as old as the rise of Rome is about to be unveiled. Every thing is about to change for the people of Alagaesia. Secrets as old as their world are about to get out. A new war is about to begin.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer :**

 **'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' and 'Heroes of Olympus' belong to Rick Riordan .**

 **Inheritance Cycle belongs to Christopher Paolini.**

Prologue

3rd Person POV

(Sometime after the Battle of Farthen Dûr)

A hooded figure walked in a dark, desolate cavern. The darkness was broken by a ball of light that the man conjured by magic. He had been looking for this knowledge within the cave for decades. The ones who had hidden it did not put any enchantments or guards there. He had thought there would be some hidden defence mechanism there but after days of examining the cave he found none. Clever of them, such measures would have attracted attention. Who would think that something so valuable would be left unguarded. He would soon reach the level of gods. The Varden were under the illusion that they could oppose him openly, how foolish. With the knowledge in his possession, he would crush the Varden and its allies.

He reached the end of the cave. The wall at the end had a stone tablet on it. On the tablet was the greatest and most sought secret in Alagaesia. He tried to remove the tablet from the wall but it didn't budge. He tried again but it was in vain. He decided to use magic. Forming the spell in his mind, he cast it. The spell started to drain his strength at an alarming rate, he started drawing strength from 'his' dragon but he too was drained alarmingly. He then started drawing power from the numerous Eldunari he had. Still he couldn't get the tablet of the wall. After a good amount of time he was still unsuccessful. So, he decided to destroy it so that nobody else would learn the contents of the tablet. He cast the destruction spell, he already had strong wards to protect him from any damage from the blast. Something changed, next few moments were full of confusion for him. His and all of the Eldunari's power was drained extremely, any more drainage would have killed him. There was a brilliant flash of light which forced him to close his eyes and KABOOM! The blast knocked him a good distance away as he blacked out.

All across Alagaesia every living creature felt something in the air, like an omen of the things to come. The elves, riders, werecats and dragons, the most magical of all creatures in Alagaesia felt an uneasiness and a sense of impending doom.

Something was very wrong. Something that should not have happened had happened but only three people truly knew what it was.

In a place very far away but at the same time very close, a sleeping woman smiled. It wasn't a warm smile but instead it was a cruel smile which promised pain and suffering.

The ones who put the tablet there however did not notice it as they were 'busy' with other matters.

 **Author Note:**

 **(i) Where should I begin the story for demigods: after the Titan War or after the Giant War?**

 **(ii) Suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome.**

 **(iii) This is my first story. Please bear with me.**


	2. Chapter 1: Origins

**Disclaimer :**

 **'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' and 'Heroes of Olympus' belong to Rick Riordan.**

 **Inheritance Cycle belongs to Christopher Paolini.**

 **Chapter 1: Origins**

Gilderien or Gilderien the Wise, as his people called him was troubled. He had been the guardian of Ellesméra for centuries but he had not felt such winds of change since 'they' had left this world by sealing the gateway. He had already felt a change coming when he learnt of a new dragon rider. It was no coincidence that the new rider was named Eragon just like the original rider. Just like the original Eragon, this new rider's fate was to lead the people of Alagaesia to a new era but he was not so sure now.

He started recalling the elder days. He remembered the stories his mother told of the creation of elves. The elves were created in the image of sea spirits. They were brought to this world, which was like Ogygia but at a much larger scale. Contrary to the belief, the elves were the first race to inhabit this world and not the dwarves. In the beginning, they used to live under the sea in a city called Alalea. He remembered the wild creatures Nidhwal attacking them. They could not be reasoned with. The elves could have killed them but every sea creature was sacred to them. His people decided to go to the lands and explore them. A lot of them were curious about the land as they and their ancestors had lived only under the sea. They prayed to the creator for the ability to live on land but a prayer like that required sacrifice. The sacrifice was the ability to live under water in their natural states. So they left Alalea and came to Alagaesia by ships. From that day every elf had great fascination and yearning for the sea.

In Alagaesia they found a new race of people called dwarves. The dwarves were a tribute to the to two races dear to the creator of elves. Though the dwarves looked nothing like them, but they were master builders and blacksmiths. They were surprised to find another race, dragons. Sure they were much different than the ones that were on Earth, but to them they were nothing but wild animals. It was a big mistake. A mistake that would cause huge losses to both sides. A war was started on this belief, Du Fyrn Skulblaka they called it. Everyone knew the outcome of the war. Their bond with the dragons. The bond wasn't the only thing that made them change but also the various blessings their creator bestowed upon them. From their creator and some others they got partial immortality, cleverness and intelligence, better use and secrets of nature magic. The dwarves did not take part in the bond, however they were blessed to have long lives.

The Order of Riders was formed soon after their bonding with dragons. The riders policed the land and kept peace and justice in the lands. The rider found another race living in the most hidden regions of Spine, the Urgals. The Urgals were a violent race who valued strength and power above anything else. They were tall, bulky and had horns. Another race they made contact with was the werecats, who earlier had dealings only with the dragons. Inspite of this Alagaesia entered a period of unprecedented prosperity. But peace is a fragile thing. Soon the peace was shattered by the arrival of the race of men. They were led by their king, Palancar. Palancar and his people were peaceful at first. They settled in unoccupied easily defendable location in spine. The peaceful nature of the elves was mistaken for weakness by the humans. Especially because the place they had come from was all about conquest and power. The humans attacked the elves. After a bitter battle and huge losses on both sides, humans were defeated. Palancar was not the one to give up, he attacked again but the result was same. Not learning from his mistakes, the arrogant king attacked elves again but this time, the riders who were earlier neutral, joined the elves. Realising that victory would not be possible, the king's descendants who already did not want war, betrayed the king and got him captured. The only reason Palancar and his forces lasted that long was because they used untamed nature and elemental magic. They did not use the ancient language to harness magic like the people of Alagaesia did. Magic such as this had never been done in Alagaesia. Only the oldest of the elves had only heard about it and never seen it. They prayed to their creator for a peaceful solution. The men were forced back to their world. The memories of the alien magic removed from the minds of people of Alagaesia. Their creator and his family brought new humans into Alagaesia who were totally devoid of any kind of magic. The riders were told to induct these new humans into their order. The creator had decided to end every form of influence from him and his family from this world. He and his family used their power to manipulate the minds of people of Alagaesia, making them forget everything related to the creator. Also, they made the people of Alagaesia believe that the truth was what they believed now. But before they retreated, they let five creatures to be aware of the truth. It was done so that if the creator came back, Alagaesia would not be taken completely by surprise.

The five were given partial immortality. One was a dwarf, a dragon, a human and two elves. The dwarf Futhark died in a clan war. The dragon, Valdr was killed during the fall of riders. The human was still alive and had many titles, she of many names, the wanderer, the adventurer, the herbalist, the witch. He was one of the elves, Gilderien the Wise, Prince of House Miolandra, wielder of the White Flame of Vándil, and guardian of Ellesméra. The other elf was Rhunon, the greatest smith of this land.

Rhunon, the name brought him back to reality. He needed to talk to her urgently. He contacted her with his mind and asked her to meet him. She came as soon as she could, lines of worry clear on her face. "what do you think happened?", she asked him. Before he could reply she added, "it couldn't be that, can it?", she was trying to deny the truth.

Instead of answering the first question, Gilderien said, "not wanting to believe something has happened does not mean that it did not happen." Taking a deep breath he added, "just because an ostrich puts its head down on seeing a lion, doesn't mean that the lion can't see it", "the seal of the gateway has been broken but the biggest question is by whom and why?"

"You are right", Rhunon sighed. "This world is changing, soon it will change like never before and things will never be the same." Gilderien told his gut feeling to her. "I feel the same way", with weariness and added, "one way or another, this age is ending and a new age will be soon upon us".

 **Author Note:**

 **(i) How was it? Please review.**

 **(ii) I am asking again: Where should I begin the story for demigods: after the Titan War or after the Giant War?**


	3. Chapter 2: Battles and Revelations

**Disclaimer :**

 **'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' and 'Heroes of Olympus' belong to Rick Riordan.**

 **Inheritance Cycle belongs to Christopher Paolini.**

 **Chapter 2: Battles and Revelations**

Inside the House of Hades, the Giant Clytius and his armies controlled the mortal side of the Doors of Death. The remaining seven and Nico had no other choice than to free the Doors of Death and rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth.

 **Linebreak**

 **Nico's POV**

We overcame all obstacles and reached the place where the Doors had been chained. The Giant, Clytius and his army blocked our path. Soon we engaged the monsters. It was going well for us until the Giant joined the battle. We were hard pressed to defend ourselves. If the onslaught continued, we would be dead. We needed a miracle. Just then the elevator dinged.

 **Linebreak**

Percy and Annabeth had finally made it out of Tartarus. Not only had they managed to get themselves out, they had managed to bring the Titan Iapetus and the Giant Damasen. It was all thanks to Thanatos who allowed them them the passage as a thanks for freeing the Doors of Death, his personal doors, from Tartarus.

They got themselves out of the elevator, and saw that their friends were struggling against a giant and monsters. Seeing this, all four of them rushed into the battle. The tide turned, monsters were being annihilated. Some of them started to attack Clytius with partial success. Just then, Hecate appeared and the Giant was easily defeated. Percy and Nico broke the chains grounding the Doors of Death. Except Percy, Nico and Annabeth everybody pointed their weapons at Bob and Damasen. It was Percy who spoke, "stand down guys, they are friends."

Others didn't understand what was happening. It was Jason who voiced their doubt, "One of them is a Giant and other one I think its a Titan. They are the enemies of gods." Some of them nodded.

Percy rebutted, "And Khione is a goddess. Without them, I and Annabeth would have been worse than dead. I suggest you stand down."

Nico supported him, "Guys I know Bob, he is friendly." He had said this while pointing at the Titan.

Annabeth ended the discussion by saying, "They are with us, they helped us in Tartarus. Like Percy said, we would be worse than dead without them. They protected us from Gaea's forces down there. Also they fit into the the prophecy, 'And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death'. It doesn't only apply to Greeks and Romans, but also includes a Titan and a Giant."

Nobody argued after that. They decided to leave the crumbling structure and head outside. Once they were outside they hugged each other and were about to have a picnic when Coach Hedge and to their surprise Reyna came towards them. Everybody was soon informed about the Titan and the Giant. Both of them told their stories to the demigods. Everyone sympathised with them.

After all that the future course of action was decided, the Argo 2 would continue its journey towards Mount Olympus while Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge would take the Athena Parthenos to Camp Halfblood. Bob and Damasen, both being immortal beings could not participate in their quest, decided to go on their own. They said that they would attempt to disrupt Gaea's plans the best they could and also promised to join them in the final battle.

 **Linebreak**

Octavian was frustrated. He had been about to assault the Greeks, when suddenly the Amazons and another group of silver clad girls who called themselves the Hunters of Artemis appeared. Both the groups had claimed that they had been ordered by their patron goddesses to stop this conflict. As if the gods would talk to a bunch of girls! They had joined the Greeks. The Romans even with all their power would not be able to defeat the three combined forces. A direct assault would be suicide. So he had come up with the idea of onagers. He would eliminate his opposition without any casualties on his side. The gods would return to their proper Roman aspects and would reward him greatly.

After few hours, the onagers were where he wanted them to be. He was about to give the order to fire when that rouge Praetor, Reyna made an appearance with the Athena Parthenos. Also she proclaimed that it as a peace offering to the Greeks and asked for forgiveness for stealing it.

Octavian was greatly angered by this. He was about to order his minions to capture them just when several flashes of bright light appeared. When the light faded, there stood the gods in there twelve feet forms. Octavian smiled, the gods had come to punish the rouge Praetor for breaking Roman laws and also for giving the statue to the Greeks was a direct violation to the oath of ancient Romans that the statue would never see daylight. Things didn't go the way he thought. The gods were glaring at him, their glares made him cower. He looked at the gods once again, it was then that he realised they were in their Greek aspects. Then things happened very fast. Octavian found himself shackled and then something hit his head and he blacked out.

The gods took charge, all the forces were asked to assemble in the amphitheater. The gods informed them of successes of the seven. They were also told of their arrival at Mount Olympus. Apollo healed Nico as best as he could in short period of time they had, telling him not to use too much of his powers while also telling him to get a full treatment after the battle. The demigods were then told to brace themselves as they would be transported to Greece where the final battle would take place.

 **Linebreak**

The seven were doing well to reach their destination, a few hiccups notwithstanding. The biggest change in the group was Percy's behaviour. He was extremely driven all the time. He rarely used to joke, spent most of his time in combat training. Not only did he train with weapons, he also spent time in hand to hand combat, he indulged in martial arts, boxing etc. When he wasn't training, he would read books regarding the First Giant War. Researching how the Giants were defeated amongst other things. The crew members didn't say much about it because they thought it was his way of dealing with the aftermath of his journey through Tartarus. As the final battle got nearer, all of them started being more anxious and devoted more time in training.

After a few days, they reached Mount Olympus. There they saw a huge monster army and a lot of Giants too. They were praying to the gods to join them, otherwise they would be slaughtered. Soon their prayers were answered. To their surprise, not only the gods had arrived, but also the campers, both Greek and Roman. The Hunters and the Amazons were there too. They felt confident in their chances.

The battle began soon enough. Every god engaged their respective banes. Percy found himself fighting Polybotes alongside his father. While his father fought Polybotes trident on trident, Percy employed hit and run tactics. Just when the Giant would be distracted, he would slash at his legs and while reeling from his leg wounds, Poseidon would injure his upper body. Soon the Giant looked worse for wear. Percy then communicated with his father through his mind, just like he talked to horses, sea creatures etc. He told his plan to his father and he agreed. Suddenly, Poseidon blasted Polybotes with water in the face. Percy then did the same thing as he did in Camp Jupiter and stabbed the Giant's heart, not letting him recover his father launched his trident at Polybotes, beheading him. Percy looked around and he realised that they were actually doing very well. Bob and Damasen had kept their word and joined the battle as well, they were a great help. After a while as the battle was coming to an end, the Earth shook, fissures opened near the mountain. Nobody had any doubt what it was. Gaea was coming out of her slumber. Athena being the voice of reason said, "We have to put her into deep slumber before she wakes up. Annabeth supported her, "The prophecy said that Gaea would fall to either storm or fire."

Everybody looked at Zeus and Poseidon. They both could create a storm and were most powerful among the gods. Poseidon said, "A storm of that magnitude would take sometime to form and all of us would have to channel our energy into it to get the job done.

Athena spoke, "Till the storm is formed, we should attack Gaea with fire to slow her."

Everybody nodded at this. The demigods were told to fall back. As the demigods were retreating, Percy spoke up, "Father let me join you."

Zeus and Ares scoffed at him. Poseidon glared at both of them and said, "In case you have forgotten, my son blasted Mt. Saint Helens apart when he was just fourteen. So, I suggest you don't underestimate his power."

The gods more or less agreed with it. They needed every ounce of power they could get. At this Jason spoke, "Let me join, I can help." Thalia agreed with him, "Me too."

It was Hera who spoke up, "You can't."

Thalia demand, "Why not."

It was Artemis who replied, "My lieutenant, while you are strong, even I have to admit that you are nowhere near the power level of Perseus. He has far more raw power in him than you and the same goes for your brother."

Leo said, "I can help with the fire attack, I will use my fire powers an Festus will help me." Festus had been restored by Leo using the Archimedes sphere. It was like Festus had become a transformer. Once he turned Festus in his dragon mode, he couldn't turn him back into the Argo 2 because the changes had been made in a very short time. If given, more time, he could make Festus into an awesome transformer. Leo added, "Jason and Thalia can help with their lighting and strength the fire, and when the storm is ready, we will go back."

Everybody agreed. The gods except Hephaestus and Hestia, who had arrived soon after the battle, joined hands, Percy joined them too. Hephaestus, Hestia, Leo and Festus started blowing fire into the point where fissures joined. Jason and Thalia launched lighting bolts one after another. A few other campers threw Greek Fire bombs.

The other gods channelled their power into the storm via Zeus or Poseidon. Percy was trying to concentrate, willing a hurricane to appear just like when he had fought Hyperion. He got lost in need to summon a storm. He started thinking about Mt. Saint Helens. He called to the endless power of the sea to him. It was then that he started losing control of his thoughts, they became like the wild sea in a storm. His thoughts started wandering, he thought about what he did to Akhlys. He started thinking on those lines, water was everywhere, in the air, even the clouds were made of water. He tried to pull the clouds, but they were too far up and in Zeus' domain, they resisted him. Then something happened that made him absolutely furious. Realising that they needed more time, Leo riding on Festus went towards Gaea and collided with her. The collision resulted in a huge blast. Percy was absolutely furious, he remembered all his friends who died in the wars, they all deserved happy and long lives. They had been cut short by the likes of Gaea. His anger started fuelling him, he pulled the clouds with all his might, this time they responded. The tug in his gut was as painful as holding the sky. Poseidon and Zeus felt the control of the storm wrench out their hands. They looked at each other and realised it wasn't their doing. Then they looked at Percy and realised it was him. All the gods were looking at him in awe, they had never thought that a demigod could be this powerful. Hephaestus had once told him that he was the son of earthshaker, he didn't know his own strength. Looking in front of them, they realised, neither had they. They also realised that Percy was putting all he had into the storm. They increased their efforts, Poseidon and Zeus were now channeling all the power into Percy, they were now guiding the storm, giving direction to it.

Soon a storm of epic proportions had formed near Mount Olympus. Jason and Thalia retreated. Hephaestus and Hestia joined the other gods. But Percy's thoughts had not stopped wandering, he remembered how lightning had flickered around him when he had fought Hyperion. He thought maybe he could summon lighting since his father was the stormbringer, after all there were lighting storms too. Maybe his father couldn't use lightning because it was Zeus' domain, and gods couldn't trespass into each other's domain. At that moment he remembered what Chiron had told him before his first quest, that a hero had no such limitations, a hero could go into any gods' domain without invitation.

The moment had come for the storm to hit Gaea. The storm was guided towards Gaea and its full fury hitting her. At that moment world's biggest cloudburst occurred, all of guided towards Gaea. Percy was losing consciousness, he tried to summon lighting with all he had left. A lightning bolt greater than any child of Zeus had ever summoned, struck Gaea. The result of Gaea being a hit by the storm, cloudburst and the lightning was a massive blast. Everybody was thrown back hundreds of feet due to the power of explosion. The gods got their bearings and started to see if they could sense Gaea's power. After a few minutes, they were absolutely sure that Gaea had been put to sleep. It was just then they heard a girl's scream.

The demigods watched from a distance as gods created the storm. They saw everything and were in awe of Percy's power, he had a sea green aura glowing around him the whole time. Soon the storm struck and they were knocked off their feet. They got to their feet. Annabeth was the first to rush towards the gods. She saw where Percy was lying unconscious and went towards him. As she touched him, her hand went through him as if he was a spirit. She screamed. On hearing the scream, people rushed towards her. The gods arrived soon. Her hand hadn't moved since she had tried to touch him. Most realised what was happening and the others realised when he started flickering. Poseidon shouted, "He is fading."

Apollo took charge, "Hades, anchor his soul. Poseidon channel your power into him, maybe the power of the sea will help him. Aphrodite, charmspeak him into not giving up, it may work if he is aware of us."

All the while Apollo was using all his healing powers. Soon, Percy stopped flickering and after sometime he became solid. But they didn't stop their efforts. After a while, Apollo stopped and addressed them, "He isn't in any immediate danger but he is in coma. He depleted himself even less than 1%. I can't say when or if he would wake up. I will try my best and Asclepius will help me.

 **Linebreak**

Percy, Nico and the critically injured were taken by the gods to Olympus for treatment and other demigods were sent to Camp Halfblood. The mood in the camp was grim even though they had been victorious and the casualties had been low. Everybody was worried for Percy. Leo's death had added to the grim mood. The Romans too mourned for him when they were told the truth. Annabeth and few others wanted to go to Olympus to see Percy, but they had been ordered to stay put and try to improve relations between the different groups. They had been informed that the victory celebration would take place after Percy woke up and was healthy enough to attend it.

After a day, the critically injured were transported to the camp. Godly healing had done wonders to them, they just need some rest and would be fine. They however didn't have any information regarding Percy and Nico.

 **Linebreak**

Three days after the battle, Poseidon and Apollo called for an emergency council meeting. Apollo was the first to talk, "I think Percy and Nico can be restored to full health by the Golden Fleece."

Poseidon immediately said, "Then lets bring it here and heal them."

Dionysus spoke up, "The fleece is the power source of the barrier at camp."

"It can be taken for a short while and while Percy and Nico heal, the campers can form a border patrol." Poseidon replied.

Athena gave a good idea, "While we have the fleece, we can put some our godly energy in the tree to sustain the barrier and with my statue there it should be enough."

Everybody agreed to this.

Poseidon cleared his throat and said, "I am afraid that I some bad news."

He told everyone what the news was and they all had worried expressions. Zeus spoke up, "The demigods should be informed at once."

Hestia suddenly stood and said, "No, they are already burdened by the deaths of their friends and not to mention Percy's condition. It would dishearten them on hearing this. First, we must heal Perseus, then we should have a victory celebration to raise their spirits and then we should tell them."

Ares spoke up, "Victory celebration for what?"

Hestia replied patiently, "We may not have won the war, but we won a great battle. Also we sent Gaea is in her weakest state. The most important being that all the groups are getting along for the first time ever."

Athena spoke, "I agree to this. We need Perseus Jackson in this war and it would be futile to go into next stage of this war without him. All in favour of this plan?"

The plan was passed unanimously.

 **Linebreak**

The third day brought hope to the demigods, the gods came for the Golden Fleece and informed them of its purpose. Things were starting to look up.

On the fifth day, Nico returned, fully healed. With him, he brought more hope. He told them even though Percy hadn't woken up, but he was getting better leaps and bounds.

On the seventh day they received twin good news. Leo had returned with Calypso in tow by crashing into the lake, creating a sense of Deja Vu for the people who had been there when he had first arrived at the camp. The other was that Percy had come out of his comatose state and was resting. Another five days passed, when they were told of the victory celebration that would take place two days later. It was on the same day that Percy would be discharged.

 **Linebreak**

Two days later, they all went to Olympus. Everybody was excited for various reasons. Most being excited about seeing the home of gods and a lot of them were excited to see Percy.

On seeing Olympus, they were in awe of the city. It had become common knowledge that Annabeth was the architect of Olympus and had redesigned it after the Titan War. Even the Greek campers had not seen the improvements. A lot of people congratulated her for her excellent work.

Finally, Percy's friends met him. There were lots of tears and hugs. Soon they joined the celebrations. Percy had been in an Olympian party before, but this one outclassed it by a long way. Stories and jokes were exchanged. Pranks and games were played. The food and drinks were great. People danced. Overall it was a nice change from the past years which were full of battles and hardship.

A place was setup on Olympus for the demigods to stay. It was done so that they could attend the council meeting the next day.

The next day arrived. The demigods settled in the throne room. All were in awe of it. Soon the gods appeared Along with the twelve Olympians, there were also Hades, Hestia and Hecate.

Zeus announced, "This council session begins. The first order of business today is to decide the punishment of former Roman auger, Octavian."

He waved his hand and a shackled Octavian appeared. It was clear that his jailors were not kind to him. He looked around and realised where he was. Zeus' voice boomed, "Octavian, legacy of Apollo, you are here today to receive the punishment for your crimes. You are accused of blackmailing, threatening your fellow legionaries, also you are accused of murdering a Centurion of the legion, promoting yourself to Pontifex Maximus and outlawing the elected Praetors. Most of all you are accused of waging war on our Greek children. Your actions almost lost us the war. What do you have to say of these charges?"

Octavian replied, "My Lord the Greeks attacked us first. I was doing what was best for Rome."

Hera angrily interrupted him, "Do not lie to us boy. You were doing what was best for you and not Rome. You were doing everything to take all the power for yourself. You were playing into Gaea's hands and it almost led to our downfall. Praetor Reyna was the one who acted in the best interests of Rome. The Romans are also are at fault for believing him over their Praetors, all three of them."

Zeus then looked at Apollo and said, "Apollo, do you have to say anything."

Apollo looked a bit ashamed, "I am sorry for his actions. I admit that he did nothing good with the gift of prophecy I gave him. As the god of truth I know that he is guilty of every crime he has been accused of."

Zeus announced, "Octavian for your crimes you are to be stripped of yours marks signifying your service in the legion. Also you will be slave of the Amazons for next 20 years and then you will be slave of the Hunt for the rest of your life. All in favour?"

The majority agreed. With wave of his hand he sent Octavian back to his prison.

The next part will be explained by my brother, Poseidon. Everybody looked at Poseidon, waiting for what he had to say. Poseidon took a deep breath and started.

 **Poseidon's POV**

"To understand what we want to tell you, you must know the background story." He paused for a moment and then started again, "It was the time when Greece fell and Rome rose to power. Due to the fact that the Romans were in power, all of the gods were in their Roman aspects almost all the time. The Romans feared me and never really respected me. As Neptune, I was angry and felt irritated most of the time. To get back to ease and keep myself occupied, I came up with an idea of creating a new world. I decided that in that world, I would only present myself as Poseidon so that when the people there would worship me, I would be able to be in my Greek aspect most of the time."

"The place I chose to create this new world was named Alagaesia. It was like the phantom island Ogygia, but at a much larger scale. The area of Alagaesia and its surrounding lands and seas was almost 2/3rd the size of our planet we live on."

"Then I thought of populating it. Instead of populating it with the existing races, I decided to create a new race. I then decided to create a new race in the image of nereids, the spirits of the sea because they had always honoured me. This way the race of elves was created." He then told the demigods the history of elves till they reached the land.

"Another race that I created was the race of dwarves. The were created to honour the Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheires. This is why they were meant to be master builders and blacksmiths. They were the first ones to live on land."

"When I created dwarves, at the same time I created dragons. Those dragons were not monsters, instead they were highly intelligent. The dragons had almost endless lives and kept growing their entire lives. These dragons were fearsome yet good creatures."

He then told the demigods of earliest days of elves on land, their war with the dragons and their subsequent bonding with them. "The bond gave the elves long lives and made them more powerful. Just as the bond was completed, I decided to bless them. By that time, quite a few gods had come to know of the world that I created, they were interested in that world. So, they too decided to bless them. I blessed the elves with partial immortality and the ability that a dragon would hatch only when its destined rider was near. The elves were essentially a form of nature spirits, they loved nature be it sea or the forest. Seeing this, Pan blessed them with secrets and better use of nature magic. Surprisingly, Athena who had it worst when gods moved to Rome asked my permission to bless the elves. I allowed it and she blessed them with cleverness and intelligence. The dwarves did not take part in the bond, however they were blessed by Hephaestus to have long lives."

"I created another race after sometime, the race of werecats. The werecats were very intelligent species who had two forms. One was the form of an ordinary cat, the other was the human form. The human form however was not that of a fully grown human, instead it was like a human child, but looks can be deceiving, the werecats were extremely skilled even in their human form. Their purpose was to be the silent watchers of the lands."

"Not all things can be good in the world. There is a balance that needs to be maintained in the world. Good and evil, light and dark, all are the two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. Alagaesia too was not an exception to this rule. The elves were a peaceful and good race. As a backlash the race of Urgals was created. However, I was able to keep the evil in them to a bare minimum but they became violent and highly aggressive race. They were tall and heavily built and had horns."

"It was after the bond that another race was created. This race was called Ra'zac. The were made out of pure evil. They are the true monsters of Alagaesia. They have large eyes and are beaked. The are strong, extremely agile and have breath that paralyses humans. They however hate light and have strong fear of deep water. They are predators of humans. They remain in their exoskeleton for twenty years to mature. On the first full moon of the twentieth year, they shed their exoskeleton and spread their wings. In their matured form, they are called Lethrblaka. The Lethrblaka hunt all creatures. They are intelligent, vicious and twisted."

"The Order of Riders was formed soon after their bonding with dragons. The riders policed the land and kept peace and justice in the lands. Alagaesia entered a period of unprecedented prosperity. But peace is a fragile thing. Soon the peace was shattered by the arrival of the race of men. They were led by their king, Palancar who was a son of Jupiter. Palancar was informed and guided to this world by his father. Rome was falling, people were shifting to other religions. The loss of worshipers meant the loss of power. Jupiter wanted to have more worshipers, so he thought of conquest of Alagaesia. After all, the Romans were all about conquest and power. This enraged me greatly but I kept quiet for the sake of peace in the family. Palancar and his people were peaceful at first. They settled in unoccupied easily defendable location in Spine. The peaceful nature of the elves was mistaken for weakness by Palancar. Especially because Rome was all about conquest and power. Palancar and his Roman army attacked the elves. After a bitter battle and huge losses on both sides, Romans were defeated. Palancar was power hungry and not the one to give up, he attacked again but the result was same. Not learning from his mistakes, the arrogant king attacked elves again but this time, the riders who were earlier neutral, joined the elves. Realising that victory would not be possible, the king's descendants who already did not want war, betrayed the king and got him captured. The only reason Palancar and his forces lasted that long was because his army had a lot of demigods. Demigod powers had never been used in Alagaesia. Only the oldest of the elves had only heard about it and never seen it. They prayed to me for a peaceful solution. The Romans were forced back from Alagaesia. The memories of the demigods and their powers removed from the minds of people of Alagaesia. At that point the council decided that we would completely remove ourselves from Alagaesia and let it go on without the presence of gods. It was an interesting decision as it allowed us to know how a world would grow without gods in it."

"We sent regular mortals in Alagaesia so that the race of men would be present in Alagaesia. The riders were told to induct these new humans into their order. We used our power to manipulate the minds of people of Alagaesia, making them forget everything related to the us. Also, we made the people of Alagaesia believe that the truth was what they believe now. But before we retreated, we let five people be aware of the truth. It was done so that if we came back, Alagaesia would not be taken completely by surprise. Another reason it was done was if someday the flame of the west extinguishes, the demigods could flee to Alagaesia and rekindle it when the right time came."

"Then, with all our power we sealed the gateway to the world. The ingenious part of the seal was that the seal had to be removed from both sides of the gateway. But now the seal has been destroyed. We are yet to determine why, how and by whom the seal was destroyed from the other side."

 **3rd Person POV**

He then proceeded to tell them the history of Alagaesia until now. He also explained about magic and the other workings of the land like their technology, customs, the environment there, etc.

Feeling trepidation Percy asked "Dad who broke the seal from our side?"

Poseidon replied with a grimace, "Gaea, and she too has fled to Alagaesia to recuperate and enslave the people there."

Every demigod was stunned by the announcement, everything they had worked for had been in vain. Their enemy had survived. Most of them were dreading the reason they had been told the story.

Annabeth broke them out of their thoughts by asking Poseidon, "Lord Poseidon, how could Gaea have gone to Alagaesia even though she wasn't fully awake?"

Poseidon replied, "She had help from one of her giant children. Think, which giant was missing from the battlefield in Greece?"

Every demigod wondered who it was except a few. It was Percy who spoke, "Alcyoneus"

Poseidon looked at his son gravely, "Yes it indeed is Alcyoneus."

It was Athena who continued, "We have a reason to believe that Gaea anticipated defeat of her giant children and had this backup plan to flee to Alagaesia."

Annabeth asked her mother, "My lady, there would have been defenses around the location of the gateway, how did Gaea get there without alerting anybody?"

Athena sighed, "My daughter, you know the answer to that question. After all you have used the path alongside Perseus, Grover, Tyson, Nico and Rachel. A path that could bypass the defences. Also we were incapacitated due to the Greco-Roman conflict . Gaea used all of this to her advantage .

The said people, Chiron and some of the Greek veterans realised the answer. The others however were confused. For their benefit Percy spoke, "The Labyrinth".

Annabeth looked at the gods and asked, "That is why Gaea got Pasiphae to reopen the labyrinth, isn't it?"

It was Zeus who replied, "At this point that is what we think but we can never be too sure."

Hecate, who had been silent the whole time spoke, "I have a theory."

Everyone looked at her and the gods motioned to her to go on.

Taking a deep breath she said, " Alagaesia is a phantom world, even Gaea cannot open a direct route to that world permanently. We have wards against that very situation. It would require massive amount of power to transport even a small army there. Only the Olympian Council can send people there without much difficulty, that was the part of the magic of the wards. I think that after regaining her power, Gaea would weaken the barriers of the worlds enough so that the labyrinth could snake into Alagaesia and then expanding there."

Everyone stared at her and with horror realised the truth in her words. Everyone was panicking. The gods started arguing and shouting at each other. It was Hestia who took charge, "Silence!" Everybody looked at her and quieted down. "Now that you all have stopped acting like little children, we can continue our discussion. Keep in mind that arguing with each other will only result in wastage of precious time. While we waste our time, the enemy grows stronger by the second."

Hermes said, "There really is only one option at the moment. Sending demigods."

Everybody knew that this really was the only option. Athena carried on, "We have evidence that Gaea managed to send a big army ahead of her. The people of Alagaesia will be no match against the monsters. The people of Alagaesia do not have the knowledge and resources to defeat the monsters, addition to this is the fact that Gaea's army will have the element of surprise."

Artemis added, "Not to forget that their is a powerful giant there too."

Poseidon spoke, "We would have to reveal ourselves to the people of Alagaesia once again. We have to drive Gaea and her forces back from there. Also we have to strengthen the barriers between the worlds so that the labyrinth cannot reach into Alagaesia."

Zeus asked, "This is all good but who do we send?"

"Isn't it obvious, we should send the seven", Ares replied.

A few gods nodded. Artemis protested, "We can't let the seven bear the whole burden of this war like they did before."

Demeter asked, "If not the seven, then who is to be sent to this quest?"

It was Athena who replied, "I agree with my sister Artemis. While the seven would play a crucial role in this war, they do not have to bear the burden of it alone. We have to work out on something different."

Percy spoke up, "Lords and Ladies if I may?"

The gods looked at him and gestured him to go on.

After thinking for a moment that how he would put his proposal in front of everyone, he spoke, "Hera's plan to units the Greeks and the Romans worked out. We should use it to our advantage. Our enemies know that our standard procedure to solve a problem is to issue a quest. That is what Gaea and her forces will expect. I propose that we should send all the forces available to us. Greeks, Romans, Hunters, Amazons, maybe even the Cyclopes and nature spirits. We should use the numbers to our advantage and take them by surprise."

Everyone was just stared at him, that made Percy feel a bit self-conscious. Annabeth who knew how intelligent Percy really was in certain situations was the first to catch on and supported him, "I think its a good idea, we have the advantage of logistics, we can send and call back our troops easily as compared to Gaea's forces. We can take on the monsters that are already there. After we defeat the monsters, we can establish our stronghold there."

With an expression on her face as if she had swallowed a bitter pill, Athena said, "Perseus Jackson, it seems that I have underestimated you again."

A few gods snickered at her but she ignored them and continued, "I approve of the boy's plan. It certainly will give us the element of surprise. It will also show our enemies that we are decisive and are willing to face the threat head on without any hesitation. It would make the instances of our inaction or delayed action in the past a thing of the past. Above all, it would present a united Olympus to our enemies. Our forces have always been divided, our enemies have used this division against, but we prevailed even though our forces were divided. Now with this unprecedented unification, our forces would reach new levels of strength and increase our morale add sky high. At the same time it would be a big blow to our enemies and will bring their morale down severely. Morale is a very important thing, it can make people do impossible things. In a war, it can decide victory and defeat"

Everyone stared contemplating about what had been said. General consensus was that it was a good idea. The more strategic and clever people started thinking of the finer details. Hermes was one of those people. He said aloud, "We have a few things to consider."

He paused, making sure that everyone was listening and then continued, "There are some big egos and clashes are bound to happen. These are early days of the Greco-Roman alliance, things can get out of hand due to their differences. The Hunters and the Amazons are not exactly male friendly. These are some of the issues we need to take care of before we accept this plan."

Almost everyone nodded.

Surprising everybody, Hera spoke, "They need a leader, one leader who would be the commander of all the factions."

Aphrodite joined the discussion, "Why only one leader, why not choose two leaders just like praetors in the legion?"

Dionysus spoke up, "One leader means putting too much power in hands of a single person. The leader can misuse his power. The others won't be able to protest since the leader was appointed by Olympus."

It one of those rare occasions when he was being completely serious. Infact the situation demanded that everyone to be fully serious.

It was Hera who replied with a slightly sharp tone, "In that case we should appointment someone who won't get drunk on power and one leader so that the multiple leaders do not clash with each other." She then had a small smirk on her face.

Dionysus asked her mockingly, "Who do you suggest be the leader?"

"I nominate Perseus Jackson", Hera replied, shocking everyone. It was no secret that they did not get along. Especially after she kidnapped him for months.

Poseidon looked at her suspiciously, "Why would you choose my son when you can choose one of your Amazon warrior or choose your champion Jason?"

"Percy is a very loyal person who doesn't have a shred of hubris or hunger for power even after all his great achievements.", Hera replied.

"Forgive me for not believing you sister, but you are not known for your love for demigods." Poseidon said to her a bit of accusation in his voice, still suspicious.

Hera took a deep breath, there was no hiding the truth, not anymore, "Percy is my godson."

Everybody was stunned at her statement. Everyone looked at her as if she had proclaimed that she had cheated on Zeus.

"You can't be serious, you are joking", Percy blurted out his eyes wide.

Hera looked at Percy with a small smile, kindness in her eyes, "No Percy, I am telling the truth. I am the goddess of motherhood, I knew you the moment you were born. I was the first one to hold you in my arms. Just by holding you I knew that you would bring a great change, I realised through my domain of family that you would one day unite our family. I offered your mother my protection, but she denied it. She was adamant that she would raise you on her own. The best she let me do was become your godmother. You can ask your mother, she would tell you the same thing, but you don't have to trust anybody on this. Just trust your memories, remember your life when you were a little boy."

Percy didn't know what to do. He didn't even realise when he started going through the memories of his life. He recalled the time when he was four. He realised, he had forgotten about the sweet woman who came to meet his mother and him. He went through the memories he had of the woman, he realised that she stopped coming after he was eight. As he reviewed his memories, he looked at Hera. The realisation stunned him. He stuttered, "You...How...Why...?"

After a moment of silence he whispered, "Auntie June", but everybody heard him.

Hera beamed at him, "Indeed my boy, I was June, who visited you and your mother."

Percy remembered the sweet, loving and caring woman from his childhood. He was confused. He asked her, "Why?"

Hera sighed and looked saddened, "I had to keep up act of disliking you so that it would not raise suspicion. I was afraid if I favoured you openly, then you would become arrogant like the heroes in the past who were pampered by the gods." She paused and then said, "know this Percy, you have become far greater than I ever hoped you would become. I am really proud to be your godmother."

Percy was lost. On one hand he remembered his auntie June who loved him while on the other hand he recalled how Hera had meddled with his life. Others too were finding it difficult to digest what they had learnt.

Hera broke them out of their thoughts, "As I said before, I nominate Percy. My Amazons will follow him." She said it with conviction and it was like an order to the Amazons from their patroness.

"While my Hunters do not like males, Perseus seems like a good man. My lieutenant seems to like him and would not be averse to working with him given that my Hunters are treated with respect." Artemis said realising that Percy would be the leader one way or another.

Hera added, "Since the auger's actions do not count, Percy is still the Praetor of Rome."

Athena said grudgingly, "I agree with this, since Perseus has the loyalty of all the factions. Also his presence will keep the groups together as he did on the Argo 2."

Poseidon took the chance, "All in favour of making my son the leader?"

Majority of the gods raised their hands.

Zeus, who wanted either Jason or Thalia to lead, looked resigned and announced, "Majority has spoken, Perseus will lead the demigod armies in Alagaesia. Anything else?"

Athena said , "There should be a council under Perseus to advice him and also to help him. A small council containing the rest of the seven, Chiron, Nico, Tyson, Thalia, Reyna and Hylla. A full council, having the small council plus the cabin councillors, Centurions, some experienced Hunters, some high ranking Amazons."

All the gods agreed.

Ares spoke up, "Their weapons won't work on the mortals there."

A shocked Percy spoke, "What do you mean our weapons not working on mortals? Are we going to kill mortals! "

Poseidon understood his son's hesitation, "Percy while there are people who have been forced to terrible things by Galbatorix, a good amount of people there have done horrific things of their own free will. Your mission is has lots of objectives, one of them is to liberate the oppressed people of Alagaesia. The people in power there would enslave you right now if they had the power to do so. I know how you feel about taking a human life, but son you know better than most that some people are human by loosest definition of the word."

Percy understood what his father was trying to tell him, but he was still repulsed with the idea of killing mortals. He just said, "I understand."

Athena said, "We should upgrade all their equipment and send all the help we can. It will make an impression on the people of Alagaesia. We should provide them tents like the ones the Hunters use and also some sort of defence mechanism to protect their camp. They are the children of gods, they should look like it."

Poseidon added, "I will get the Cyclopes to work on weapons and armour, Hephaestus can take care of other things."

Zeus finally told them, "Heroes prepare yourselves, we are about to take the fight to our enemies."

 **Author Note (Please Read):**

 **(i) Sorry for the delayed update.**

 **(ii) I will be changing some of the events from the original story. The changes will be mentioned to avoid confusion.**

 **(iii) The battle scene was rather disappointing. I did it because there are much better battle scenes in different fanfictions than I could have written. Also, I wanted to concentrate on the main story.**

 **(iv) I adopted a very different concept from others in the sense that I am taking all of the demigods to Alagaesia instead of Percy and few others going there. Also, the Alagaesians will participate in the demigod battles instead of demigods helping Alagaesians to overthrow Galbatorix. What are your thoughts about it?**

 **(v) How was it? Please review. It not only acts as an encouragement but also lets me know what the readers want.**


	4. Chapter 3: Warnings and War

**Disclaimer :**

 **'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' and 'Heroes of Olympus' belong to Rick Riordan.**

 **Inheritance Cycle belongs to Christopher Paolini.**

 **Chapter 3: Warnings and War**

Eragon and Saphira had been training under Oromis and Glaedr for weeks. They had come a long way from the time he had arrived in Ellesméra. He hadn't felt this good ever before. After his transformation during the Agaetí Blödhren he felt more alive than he ever had. His training was going extremely well. The only thing weighing him down was his falling out with Arya. He hoped to make amends to her, when they next met.

Today was a surprising day. He had been informed by Oromis to go to the throne room. He got ready and went to the throne room with Saphira. On reaching there he saw that all of the Elvish nobles had gathered there. Orik was there too and so were Glaedr and Oromis. They exchanged greetings. After that all eyes were on Islanzadí. She told them with a grave expression, "I am afraid that I have bad news."

Eragon noticed the people around, some were curious to learn of this news, while a select few including Oromis had grim expressions, signifying that they already knew what it was and by looking at them he could make out that it was seriously bad.

Islanzadí continued, "We were scrying the lands. It is a routine with us, nothing out of ordinary. Yesterday night we turned our attention towards Gil'ead, there we encountered shielding magic, which we couldn't pierce through. We tried various spells but it didn't work. Finally, Lord Däthedr was able to create a spell which removed the shroud of magic placed to blind us."

She took a deep breath and continued, "What we saw was disheartening. We saw a huge army. The sheer numbers would make people cower in fear. There were around three hundred fifty thousand soldiers in that army."

Eragon was stunned, he couldn't find any words to speak. The thought occupying his brain was, 'how could Galbatorix manage to get such huge amount of soldiers to serve him'.

Orik broke him out of his thoughts, "Barzul, this will be the end of the Varden. The last I know, the Varden had almost forty thousand men who could fight."

Eragon asked, "How many Surdans can we expect?"

Orik replied, "Forty thousand, maybe fifty thousand, but not more than that. There would be around thirty thousand dwarf warriors from our side."

Islanzadí added, "We elves, too will join this battle, we cannot let our allies fight alone with such terrible odds. After this meeting is over my people will prepare for departure. We would have around ten thousand elven warriors."

Eragon then added up the numbers and said, "Even with all these numbers, we will be outnumbered almost two to one. We will need a miracle to win this battle."

It was Oromis who replied to him, "There is still hope Eragon, the dwarves are a sturdy race, sturdier than humans. One dwarf can take on more than one human at a time. The same is true for elves. Do not forget that you and Saphira will be a big factor, not only in this battle, but also in this war."

Oromis waited for a moment and then dropped the bombshell, "I intend to join this battle as well."

Everybody, even the elves were shocked by this announcement.

Islanzadí spoke up, "Oromis, you cannot leave, specially considering your condition. You are meant to teach the future riders."

It was Glaedr who replied, "We must venture into this battle. Saphira and Eragon are the greatest hope. Have you not had this feeling for some days. The feeling that the change is in the very air we breathe. All of Alagaesia felt it. We may not know what it means but one thing is certain, that things cannot remain as they are."

Oromis further added, "Now that the elves are going to join this war, the secret of our existence may not remain a secret. We will continue teaching Eragon and Saphira there. Also us being there would increase the morale of Varden and its allies. It would help with the recruitment too."

Islanzadí sighed, "I see that you have made your mind Shur'tugal. So be it. She looked towards the assembled nobles had said, "spread the word that the elves are about to go to war. Tell them everything you heard here. Tell them to make haste. Above all, tell them that we are going to take on the usurper and make him pay for defiling this land by his tyranny." She ended her speech with passion.

Everybody started leaving. Oromis told Eragon to follow him. They mounted their dragons and flew towards their destination. On landing, Eragon saw Gilderien the wise and Rhunon. He was a bit surprised and was curious to why they were in the presence of oldest of elves.

Gilderien welcomed them, "Greetings to you all. You might be wondering why we called you here. I and Rhunon have some advice to give, the advice may not seem like advice and may confuse you, but know that we will tell you what we can."

He paused and then continued, "Oromis, Glaedr, we know of your intention of joining the battle. We believe it is the right choice. However, there are things you must know before you leave."

Rhunon looked like her age had caught upto her but when she spoke her words were full of confidence and had warning in them, "Gilderien and I remember the before riders existed. Gilderien here was a young boy when the elves came to this land from Alalea. There are things people of Alagaesia have forgotten, not by choice though. I, Gilderien and a few others were tasked with a certain duty long ago. We are here to discharge that duty. Know this riders, secrets as old as this land are about to be unveiled. You might not want to believe it but there are beings, creatures, forces stronger than even dragons, some good, some evil. Our advice and warning to you is, if you see or feel forces that are totally foreign to you, then beware of them. Proceed with caution, you may not know who is friend or who is foe."

Saphira, although not believing that there could be anything more powerful than a dragon asked, "Can you not tell us of these forces you speak in detail."

Gilderien replied, "Brightscales, I know how you feel that nothing is more powerful than a dragon. Let go of your pride or it will be your downfall. We are neither lying nor exaggerating about these forces. Also know this, that we both have sworn oaths much stronger than the ones in ancient language. There are certain conditions to be fulfilled so that we can be free of our oaths, not all conditions have been fulfilled. This is the reason we cannot tell you more even though we wish to. Keep our words in mind"

Rhunon finished, "You may go now. We wish you the best of luck for the battles to come."

 **Linebreak**

They arrived at the Crags of Tel'naeír.

Eragon asked, "Master, what do you make of their words?"

Oromis replied, "I do not know what they were alluding to, but we would be foolish to ignore their warnings. They both are oldest of beings in Alagaesia. He is called Gilderien, 'The Wise' for a reason, he very rarely gives advice, but when he does it is in the best interest to follow his advice. There are a lot of things we either don't know or understand. Take dragons for example, even after being bonded with them for centuries, we elves don't know quite a few things about their mysterious nature. Take magic as another example, even after studying and practicing magic for millennia, we don't know all its workings and effects. You have already read about unknown magical phenomena such as the werelights in the bogs by Aroughs, the dream well in Mani's Caves in the Beor Mountains, and the floating crystal on Eoam. Wild magic such as this is unpredictable, and often stronger than any we can cast."

Oromis waited for a while and spoke after a few moments, "we must carry on with your training. We have some more time before we depart for the Varden."

The next few days, Eragon and Saphira worked extremely hard. They learnt a lot of new things. The most important being, drawing energy from nature around them. Although the technique provided good amount of energy easily, it had terrible cost. Eragon promised to never misuse this technique.

 **Linebreak**

Finally, the day came for them to leave the safety of Du Weldenvarden and join the Varden. The elven army had left a few days ago. Orik had been left behind as he would not have been able keep up with the elves, especially when they moved with such urgency. He had reluctantly agreed to ride on a dragon back to return to the Varden. They made packs for their essentials, loaded their packs on the dragons after saddling them. They decided to depart early morning as they would reach the edge of the great forest by evening. There they had planned to take rest and had decided to continue their journey in the dark. They were hoping that the cover of darkness would provide them some secrecy.

It was as if the forces of nature were aiding them. The wind was at their backs throughout the whole journey, propelling them forward. On the way Oromis quizzed Eragon on the subjects he had learnt during his training and at other times they practiced mental combat. On the third day since leaving Ellesméra, they crossed Lake Tüdosten and halted in the small forest on the western side of the lake. After settling down, they discussed future course of action.

Oromis started the discussion, "We need to decide what we are to do from here. We can either continue our journey towards the Varden or we can join them when the battle starts tomorrow."

Orik asked, "Which do you think would be better?"

Oromis replied, "If we continue then we will be revealed and if we stay here, we can have a good rest without people bothering us. Also, we would most probably have the element of surprise."

Eragon asked, "Master, where would the battle take place?"

Oromis answered, "Considering the positions of Varden and the Imperial army, it would be safe to say that the battlefield will be the Burning Plains, or Du Völlar Eldrvarya as the elves call it."

Eragon remembered his lessons regarding the Burning Plains and shivered as he remembered his dream in which at the banks of a river, warriors collided upon an orange and yellow field, him lying wounded and a huge figure with a club in his hands looking down upon Eragon. He calmed himself and said, "I think that taking the enemy by surprise would be better. Also, have the elves reached the Varden?"

Oromis replied, "The Elves will join the Varden tomorrow morning. A small group of dwarves is already with the Varden and reinforcements will arrive around noon."

Orik perked up at this, "This is good, atleast my brethren will not be over late. I agree with the idea of resting here tonight and surprise the Empire tomorrow."

They rested the whole night. They woke up early and were refreshed. They got ready and set off. First light of the day was just an hour away. They journeyed in silent anticipation. An hour and half elapsed when they could see the two armies. By the looks of it battle had just begun. The Elven army was minutes away from joining the battle. It looked like the Varden had tried a sneak attack but had been discovered by the enemy.

Visibility was low due to the smoky environment. Using this as an advantage, the dragons flew towards the back of the imperial army and then dove. As soon as they were in range, the dragons started breathing fire. Two lines of fire could be seen, cutting the imperial army from back to the front. The physical damage was not very significant considering the size of the army, but the real damage done was psychological. Seeing two dragons attacking them disheartened the soldiers, especially the unknown golden dragon who was much larger than the blue dragon, of which they had atleast heard about. When the Varden saw the two dragons attacking their enemy, it boosted their morale and they attacked with new vigour. They had heard about the rider Eragon and his dragon Saphira. However, they were suspicious about the golden dragon.

 **Nasuada's POV**

Nasuada was nervous. She was afraid that she was leading the Varden to a slaughter. The sheer size of the enemy was confidence sapping. She was thankful that the Elves were on their way and would join them soon. The Dwarven reinforcements would take some time. She made the plan of a sneak attack but to her dismay the Imperial army was waiting for them. Murtagh put a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. Both of them had become good friends, he had become leader of a company. He trained his soldiers himself and by the accounts she had heard he was a good commander and people respected him. Despite his parentage, he was kind and helpful, he had helped many people during their journey from Beor Mountains to Surda. He was also a valuable ally because he knew a lot about the nobles in the empire.

Soon the armies clashed and the first blood of the battle was spilled. Soon after there was some sort of commotion at the back of the Imperial army, she could see beams of fire advancing towards the front. Soon the dragons came into view, she looked with awe at the golden dragon. She had quickly come to the conclusion that the golden dragon and its rider must be Eragon's teachers. As the dragons came closer, she saw that the golden dragon was missing a foreleg. Nonetheless, she could see the enemy panicking, she utilised this to her advantage and told her army to attack without reservations. Soon Arya came towards her. Her expression had surprise and happiness in it, which was surprising because she rarely showed any emotion. Nasuada realised she had come to talk about the new rider. She was convinced that Arya knew the rider, but still asked, "You knew?"

Arya replied, "The dragon is Glaedr and his rider is Oromis. They are the last of the order of riders. Their existence was kept secret so that they could teach new riders. I will explain more to you later, but know this even I did not know that they would join this battle."

Nasuada took a moment to digest this and realised that Arya was telling the truth and her lack of information regarding Oromis and Glaedr joining the battle explained her show of emotion. She smiled, an experienced rider and his dragon were a massive boost to their chances. Their openly joining the war meant more knowledge, more recruits more chance of defeating Galbatorix, amongst other things. First things first, they had to win this battle.

 **Linebreak**

The battle was going well for the Varden initially, but soon the element of surprise faded and the Imperial soldiers started fighting back overcoming their earlier panic. They were being pushed back just when they got a reprieve, the elves arrived and joined the battle. Once again things started looking up for the Varden. After a few hours, the battle was going evenly, even with the help of elves, the imperial army was huge and had been given magical protections by Galbatorix. After sometime, Urgals were seen coming towards the battle. Eragon and Saphira flew to see if it was true. He saw around three thousand Urgals coming their way, including few hundred Kull. What confused him was the white flag they were displaying. He went back to the land and a hastily gathered a council. The council included Glaedr, Oromis, Islanzadí, Arya, Nasuada, King Orrin and Orik. Eragon informed them of the situation.

Arya spoke first, "It appears that the Urgals want an alliance with the Varden. Otherwise they would have been with the imperial army from the beginning."

King Orrin theorised, "It could be a trick. The Urgals fought against the Varden in Farthen Dûr."

Nasuada joined in, "They were under Durza's spell in that battle. They had no will of their own at that time."

Oromis spoke, "It is highly unlikely that the urgals would serve Galbatorix willingly. It was the urgals who killed his first dragon. He waged a war against them after the fall of riders and recently weakened them by using them against the Varden and the dwarves. It would be logical to assume that they want revenge. They cannot get by themselves, but they can get it by allying with his enemies. Keep in mind that the urgals are not an evil race, rather they are a violent race and over fond of war."

King Orrin said, "The Urgals have been at a constant war with other races. We cannot make alliance with them. It goes against nature."

Oromis looked kindly at him and said, "In a war, no side is innocent, both sides commit wrongs against each other, it is these wrongs which fuel the war."

Islanzadí supported him, "We elves have dealt with the urgals before. It would be foolish to reject possible allies due to our prejudice. We need to change our ways to win this war. I say that we hear out what they have to say."

Nasuada supported her, "I agree to this, the urgals could be valuable allies not only in this battle but also in this war."

Orik agreed, "I don't want to work with the urgals especially after Farthen Dûr, but I cannot ignore potential allies. I do not trust them but am willing to compromise for the sake of the land."

So, it was decided that they would atleast talk with the urgals. Messages were sent by both sides and they agreed to meet downriver, a short distance away from the battlefield. The council assembled there and soon a kull approached them. They had to admire his bravery, because he approached them alone without fear. He greeted them in the way urgals greet each other. He told his name, Garzhvog to them and explained his mission and reasons to ally with the Varden. When asked about his demands, he replied that his race wanted revenge and land for their people if the Varden won the war. The demands were simple as a result they quickly agreed to them. Thus, Varden gained another race as an ally.

The Urgals joined the battle and started fighting near where the elves were. This arrangement was made because the elves were least likely to attack the urgals. They did their best to inform their armies that the urgals were now their allies and were not to be harmed. The joining of urgals tilted the battle into their favor if only slightly, but as hours passed the battle balanced out and eventually turning favourable towards the empire. The Varden and its allies were losing ground and the battle. The imperial army started using war engines to further deflate them. Catapults, trebuchets and ballistae started causing mass damage to the Varden, at times it killed the imperial soldiers too, but they still continued launching missiles. They were eventually taken down by Eragon and elven spellcasters. The Varden were tired, reduced in number and were losing the battle. They started praying for the arrival of dwarven reinforcements.

A few hours later, King Hrothgar arrived with dwarven army. There were around fifty thousand warriors in that army, significantly more than Orik predicted. Their arrival provided the Varden with much needed morale boost. The battle was balanced yet again. Soon after the arrival of the dwarves, strange movement was reported from the northeast. Eragon and Oromis took to the sky with dragons. It was Glaedr who recognised the source of the movement. He told them, "If my eyes do not deceive me, the werecats are coming to join the battle."

Oromis through his bond with Glaedr realised it too, "This is very good. All the races of Alagaesia are uniting to fight against Galbatorix. We have a good chance of winning this battle now and hopefully, this war as well."

Eragon agreed, "Let us go and spread this news to the Varden."

They landed and spread the news. The Varden's spirits were raised further and the opposite could be said about the imperial army. The werecats joined the battle and attacked the imperial army fiercely. The battle was more or less balanced due to the fact that even with all the reinforcements, the imperial army vastly outnumbered them. Also the Varden's soldiers were getting tired. Afternoon ended and evening arrived. Eragon had a sort of reunion with Roran, he knew he would have to explain himself to him later.

The Varden, even though tired were heartened that dusk was few hours away. They had come to realise, that this day's fighting would end in a stalemate, something which seemed difficult at the beginning of the battle. Suddenly, something changed, noises of drums and trumpets started coming from the imperial army.

 **Eragon's POV**

Eragon let out a frustrated groan when he heard the drums and trumpets. It seemed that the empire had something up their sleeve after all. He looked around and saw that not only the Varden but a portion of the imperial army was confused. Suddenly there was a chill in the wind, it kept getting colder. Eragon wondered what kind of magic could do such a thing. Soon the temperature got so cold that everybody except the dragons were shivering. Fear started crawling in his heart, not only did he not understand the kind of magic but also thought of the power required to cast such a spell to affect these many people and over such a large area, especially in a place where fire was constantly burning under the surface. What came next shocked him even more, snow started falling. It was slow at first but the snowstorm started getting stronger by the second. He started questioning himself, had Galbatorix achieved mastery over forces of nature itself, if yes then he shuddered at the thought of such power in the hands of the enemy.

The leaders of various races assembled. Introductions were made and then they started discussing the weather and also future course of action because they were not outfitted for battle in cold conditions. All of a sudden, they heard sounds of cheering, on looking around he saw that it was the Varden who were cheering because the imperial army was retreating. He looked carefully and realised, not retreating but falling back some distance. He infiltrated a soldier's mind and found out that they had been told to fall back. The thing that confused Eragon was that the source of the order, it seemed as if they had been ordered by the wind. He shared his observations with the others and he could see that they shared his confusion and uneasiness. The weather started to get so cold that the Varden stopped cheering and looked fearful, the dragons started to breathe fire to keep the temperature warm as best they could.

Their discussion was ended by a flash of light, the light was so bright that they had to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes, they saw a horrific sight. Many of the Varden had been frozen by ice around them, but that was not the horrifying part. In the space which had been emptied by the retreat of the empire, there stood about a thousand terrifying creatures, he had never heard about such creatures and by judging the expressions on the faces of others, neither had they. They looked as if they had come from the nightmares, there were ugly, shaggy haired giants who were slightly larger than kulls. Another species of giants were there too, these giants were one eyed and were much larger than the other giants. Another looked like clay statues of giants having six arms. There were humanoid females with twin serpent trunks instead of legs. Some creatures had faces like dogs, with black snouts and pointy ears, their bodies were sleek and black like seals, they had stubby legs that were half flipper and half foot, and human-like hands with sharp claws. There were also gigantic nightmarish hounds, they were as black as night, had red glowing eyes and were larger than bears. Some of these creatures were women with flaming hair, white skin, red eyes, fangs, and had one bronze leg and one donkey leg. One kind had bodies of black panther, with the face and feet of an eagle, beady red eyes, and a long, sharp beak, they also had a pair of large wings on their backs. Lastly, the most terrifying of these creatures was a thirty feet long serpent with rows of sharp teeth, it had bright green terrifying eyes.

Everybody was in a state of shock, fear, confusion etc. Suddenly their attention was diverted towards hundred feet above where these creatures stood. After a swirl of snow, a very beautiful woman was revealed, she stood in the air the whole time. She was in a white silk dress, her skin was unnaturaly pale, the color of snow, but her hair were a lush mane of black, and her eyes were brown. She smiled at them, it was a cold smile without any friendliness in it. When she spoke, it was in a charming voice, "So these are the greatest warriors of this world. You are all pathetic, you couldn't even defeat an army of mortals. It is a good thing that you all got together here, this way I can take you down together and display it to rest of the foolish mortals."

Saphira roared at the woman but she didn't seem the least bit intimidated. Islanzadí asked, "Who do you think you are?"

The woman just continued smiling coldly, then she proclaimed, "I am Khione, the goddess of snow."

Islanzadí gave her a curt reply, "There are nothing such as gods and goddess."

Khione started laughing, "I thought that elves were supposed to be wise and clever, but it seems they are foolish after all."

With that her aura flared, waves of power started rolling out of her. She was radiating so much power that it took Eragon all his willpower to avoid bowing. He saw all around him many people had bowed down as if they didn't have any control on their bodies. He had never seen or heard about being such powerful. Could she be a goddess like she claimed, could the elves be wrong.

He was brought out of his musings by King Hrothgar. His face was grim, he spoke, "She is telling the truth. There are things that we the people of Alagaesia have been made to forget."

A lot of people were shocked at hearing that statement, especially the dwarves, while the elves stared him in disbelief.

Khione spoke again, "So the dwarf knows the truth. Not to worry he won't be bearing the burden of this knowledge for much longer."

She looked at the monsters below her and command, "Capture the leaders of these weaklings and then we will make an example out of them. Gaea will reward us greatly when she rules!"

The monsters rushed towards the Varden, but their primary targets were their leaders. The two forces clashed. Saphira started breathing fire on the one eyed giants, but to both hers and Eragon's dismay they were totally unaffected, they hadn't even flinched by the fire attack. Their shock was broken when one of those giants jumped and smacked Saphira on her jaw with his club. The blow was fearsome and much more powerful than he had expected, Saphira was thrown to the ground and Eragon with her. The blow had shattered Saphira's jaw. Seeing a dragon being attacked, the elves were enraged, they started attacking the monsters, members of others races joined them too. However, they were not successful, the weapons of elves or any other race were not even harming them. The elves who attacked the giant who wounded Saphira were killed brutally, one elf had his head smashed, one had his ribs totally shatter, one was killed by having his head pulled out of his body. It was Glaedr who stopped the rampage of that one eyed giant by biting his head off, the surprising thing was when the giant died, his body was turned into golden dust. Still the battle was going poorly. With the help of the elves, he healed Saphira. He decided to use magic to kill the monsters, he used one of the seven death words, the giant he had intended to kill died by exploding into golden dust, but what shocked him most was that the energy that drained out of him, he felt as if he had killed a thousand people. He saw all around him, many people, obviously magicians were fainting, no doubt they had tried to kill these monsters by magic. Eragon spread the word to not use magic against them. Eragon and Saphira joined the battle again but this time they were more cautious, Eragon realised that his sword, Zar'roc was able to harm them, but he couldn't do much damage as he was too tired and also there were too many monsters. He looked around and saw that they were losing. He saw that the snake-women were shooting arrows after arrows, dog-seals were shielding them, flame haired women were moving too fast and drinking blood of men, shaggy haired giants were throwing bronze balls at the Varden, on impact the balls exploded and caused many casualties, panther-eagles were flying over the Varden and picking them from the ground and after killing them they threw back the bodies, the six armed giants were somehow forming huge rocks in their hands and throwing at the Varden, the giant hounds were simply mauling anyone who came into their path. He saw Glaedr battling the thirty feet serpent, he saw the serpent spit a good amount of liquid, Glaedr dodged it but it fell on some men and he realised the liquid was some kind of acid because the bodies of the men dissolved, their armour melted. Eragon shuddered at this, it was a horrible way to die. After seeing all this he decided that if they defeated Khione, the monsters might retreat. So he along with Saphira and few elves decided to attack her with their minds, just trying to touch her mind almost destroyed them, Khione just gave her cold smile and they were physically blasted back. The force was so powerful that Eragon was thrown from Saphira's back and landed painfully. He was disorientated, the monsters used it to their advantage, the snake-women shot arrows at him, one pierced this left thigh, one was lodged in his right shoulder one was in his right foot. The arrow wounds were hurting more than usual, the arrowheads were made of bronze, he thought that there might be enchantments on them. Just as he was about to take the arrows out ,a giant kicked him in the stomach, the blow knocked the wind out of him. Next thing he knew he had bronze shackles on him. All this had happened in a span of few seconds. He heard Saphira roar, it was then that he realised that his connection to Saphira had been broken, he tried to contact Saphira with his mind but to no avail, he tried using magic but could not do it. A horrible thought occurred to him, the bronze chains were somehow blocking his magic, he had become their prisoner, a prisoner with no means of escape. He looked around hoping that someone would free him but what he saw terrified him even more. Islanzadí, Arya, Nasuada, Hrothgar and a few others had been captured too. Saphira was coming towards him, but she totally ignored the huge serpent behind her, the serpent somehow lunged at her and started constricting her, it bit Saphira on her neck, drawing blood, she roared but was squeezed even further. Glaedr tried to come to her rescue, he couldn't breathe fire, the fire hadn't caused much harm to the serpent earlier and now with Saphira in its grip, the fire would only hurt Saphira. Suddenly the serpent reared back and spat acid at Glaedr's intact foreleg, as soon as the acid touched, he collapsed, his scales had protected him from the worst damage but his scales had been dissolved by the attack. Very quickly the giants bound him and Oromis, who too was incapacitated due to Glaedr's painful injury. In the meantime, some of the giants had chained Saphira. Seeing their capture, Khione froze everybody else .She made a huge platform made of ice and placed him and all the other prisoners on it. He was moved forward and a one eyed giant with a club looming over him, just like in his premonition.

Khione spoke, "Pathetic mortals, see your leaders lying helpless, they are going to become examples of what happens when you oppose Gaea. She is your new goddess and you all will worship only her."

She pointed her finger towards Eragon and said, "This is your hero, your hope for freedom, now you will see your hope extinguish."

Saphira roared, trying to be defiant but Khione just clicked her fingers and ice formed over her mouth, Khione said, "Shut up you stupid lizard, accept your fate."

 **Saphira's POV**

Saphira tried to break her bonds, but nothing happened. She couldn't even breathe fire. Her wings failed her, she couldn't fly. The worst thing was that her connection with Eragon had been broken. She had always believed that there could be nothing more powerful than a dragon, but these creatures had taken all of them down with ease. She now remembered the advice and warning Gilderien the Wise and Rhunon had given them, she now cursed herself for not listening to them. They had mentioned foreign beings, creatures and forces much stronger than anything in Alagaesia. Had they been mentioning these creatures, they had mentioned some were foes and some were friends. If these had been foes, she bent her pride and prayed to whatever gods there were to send them friends who could defeat these monsters.


End file.
